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“That’s what you need. Multiple goalscorers. We’ve got Rogic that scores, Sinclair that scores, James Forrest chips in, Stuart Armstrong who can score.

“We have enough goalscorers in there. Just because it’s not a traditional goalscorer doesn’t mean you can’t score. You just have to find a different way”

Put simply, just because there’s tightness in Dembele’s hamstring doesn’t mean there’s any in the Celtic set-up.

Rogic is set to get the nod as what modern coaches call a false nine tonight and Rodgers said: “It gives you superiority. It’s very difficult to play against and I’ve done it wherever I’ve been.

“That floating player forcing the centre-half to come in or come out and what you need is pace in behind him.

Leigh Griffiths misses the Rosenborg match due to being suspended for tying a scarf to the post against Linfield (Image: Getty Images Europe)

“It can gain you superiority in an effective area of the field.

“You will always have in your squad the reference point of a number nine.

“For me, that nine needs to be able and have mobility.

“But, if they are not available, it’s about being able to move and find other ways.

“That was the beauty of last season, what we developed from.”

Of course, the manager can talk tactics all day long. He’d certainly rather do that than discuss transfer speculation or the Green Brigade.

Football fans these days are excellently educated, yet, naturally, there will be some who struggle with Rodgers’ subtle nuances.

For them, it’s all chat. What counts is performances, whatever way you do it and the Celtic fans trust Rodgers because of the way he has sent his players out in the last 12 months to do just that.

Sure it’s talent, sure it’s technical ability. But as Rodgers says, it’s as much about attitude and application. He said: “We had to get them mentally right and then, over the course of the season, we were able to play a different system, different structures and then we arrived at this point where we have courage.

Rodgers believes his side have to show the physical side of their game against the Norwegians (Image: SNS Group)

“British teams, in the main, have a courage which is physical.

“Be aggressive and strong but then sometimes what happens is that, when the pressure is on, the players and coaches get nervous.

“This team now is building towards having courage to play.

“We are at a point now where, in these games, there is a different feel and a different courage to accept the ball and have the nerve to play.

“We have morphed from a defensive system and then different attacking systems within the game.

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“The style is always the same, fast, dynamic, pressing, but the systems can change.”

It’s these attributes that have been acquired over the past year which could actually make tonight less stressful for the punters and the players themselves.

When Rodgers arrived, Celtic were having to win handsomely at home to see off Lincoln Red Imps. Five goals and a three-strike cushion almost wasn’t enough to get them past Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Israel.

Celtic pre-Rodgers needed to win at home in Europe because they certainly couldn’t perform away.

Rodgers first Euro game as Celtic boss was the shock loss to Lincoln Red Imps

But the signs are it’s changing. The final two displays of the Champions League group stages in Monchengladbach and Manchester spoke of a team who can impose their game on to opponents outside of Glasgow’s East End. Rodgers said: “That is the model of how we work. You couldn’t open it up away because the opponent has to come out.

“We actually scored more goals away from home last year than we did at home.

“We have a belief now in how we work.”

Mind you, he’d still rather win tonight and make life easier in Trondheim next week.

The pressure’s on. Yet you wouldn’t expect Rodgers to address that any other way and he said: “I’m not bothered. We are Celtic. We always have pressure.